Deuce and Damien
Chapter 10
Disclaimer: See chapter one
A/N: Again I'm humbled by the wonderful reviews and numerous alerts that have attached to my story. You guys are wonderful readers and I am really happy that you believe what I write is worth your time to read. Thank you all so very much-Montez
Caleb followed Mary toward the corral, Dean again clapping and trying to whistle for the horses. The teen thought about what the woman had just said, that it was up to Dean whether he lived or died. How is it possible for a five-year old to understand that concept, what the ramifications of his choice could cause.
"Mommy can we stay here forever?" Dean asked as Mary stepped up next to him, Caleb again felt his heart clinch at the question.
Looking worriedly toward the older boy, Mary turned her attention to her son. "Why do you want to do that baby?"
"Because you're here. I miss you mommy." Dean commented as he reached toward his mother, who gathered him in her arms.
Caleb felt compelled to speak, "What about Sammy and your dad?" The teen left himself out of the equation, still only beginning to understand how he felt about the small boy.
Dean looked at the older boy confused. "They can come too."
"No baby they can't." Mary answered.
"But I like it here; I don't want to leave you." Dean spoke softly, looking at his mother.
Something deep in Caleb's soul was telling him that Dean was slipping away from him. Realization finally dawned on the teen, there was no way he could return from wherever they were without Dean, he had to stay and protect him. Stepping closer Caleb laid his hand on the smaller boys' back. "If you stay, I stay."
Oxoxoxoxo
Caleb had been placed in a private room after his scans. Mac had taken up residence at the boy's side, his hand closed tightly around his son's. The doctors were still running blood work because they had noticed a slight increase in the teen's temperature upon finishing the scans. A quiet beeping drew the Scholar's attention from his son's face, there was a noticeable increase in Caleb' heart rate as well as his breathing. Standing Mac placed his hand on his son's head, the heat now clearly present.
A nurse quickly came into the room; "I've paged his doctor." she spoke as she started to take a set of vitals. The woman pulled a thermometer from her pocked; taking Caleb's temp just at the doctor came through the door. "His respiration is labored, heart rate is up and his temperature is 102.5."
Looking at Mac the doctor asked, "Is he allergic to any antibiotics?"
Mac watched as they checked his son, his mind not wanting to process what was happening, his son was becoming very sick, very fast. "No, none that I know of." He had made a point to ask Byrd about Caleb's medical history and as far as he knew his son wasn't allergic to anything.
The doctor glanced toward the nurse, "I want penicillin started…" The man's words cut off as Caleb seemed to gasp to breathe. The nurse quickly changed the canal to a full mask as the doctor listened to the boy's chest. "I want another set of x-rays now and call ICU let them know we've got a patient coming up."
"What? Why?" The doctor in Mac had been pushed away and only a scared father remained, not understanding how his son was deteriorating so quickly.
The Doctor stepped from the bed, motioning Mac back as another nurse came in to help ready Caleb for the move. "Dr. Ames, the blood work showed an infection starting in your son's system, I was going to place him on medication soon, but from the sound of his lungs, the pneumonia has set in rapidly, it's unusual for it to progress this far, this fast. I'm moving Caleb to the ICU so they can monitor his breathing and temperature, if the fluid continues to build this quickly we'll have to place a drain in to remove it, do you understand?" The doctor knew how quickly a medical professional's knowledge could fade when it was a family member in jeopardy, but he needed to make sure the doctor before him understood just how sick his son had become.
Mac looked at Caleb, a light sheen of sweat now covering his forehead, causing the teen's black hair to stick to it, "Okay, just do what you need to do, please." Mac had been lulled into a false sense of security that, other than the seizure at Bobby's, since arriving at the hospital his son had been stable and he had just been waiting for the boy's golden eyes to open.
Oxoxoxoxo
"Mr. Winchester?" John looked up from watching his son's still form to see the nurse from the emergency room standing at the foot of Dean's bed. "How's he doing?" Mary asked.
"He's holding his own…" Looking back at his son as tears filled his eyes, but he refused to let them fall.
The nurse came to stand on the other side of the bed, laying her hand on the small boys head. "In the ER, he started crying, like he knew you weren't with him…" Mary saw pain pass over the man's face, she knew he had wanted to be with his son, but policy required the non-medical personal not be allowed in the room during treatment. "I took his hand and when I told him my name he squeezed my hand tightly. I told him you were close by and wanted him to keep fighting and that he was safe now." Again she brushed her hand through Dean's blond hair.
John cleared his throat as he looked up at the woman, "His mother's name was Mary, and she died just over a year ago. He hasn't been the same since." The Knight didn't know why he felt compelled to tell this woman about his son and their loss, but he continued. "He hasn't talked in all that time, it's like he's withdrawn from everything. Only recently did he start interacting with anyone other than his baby brother. I don't know what to do to help him…" John's voice cracked, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost him."
Mary reached across and laid a hand on the hurting father's shoulder, "You're here and he knows that. He'll find his way back to you. Something like that takes time to get over, especially for a small child."
Giving a tired, exhausted smile John nodded as the woman turned to go, "Mary…" God it pulled at his heart to say that name allowed after so long, "Thank you." The nurse smiled and quietly left the room. John rubbed his hand over his face and refocused on his son silently praying he would soon wake up.
A short time later a louder than normal noise brought John's attention to the hallway outside his son's cubicle, stepping to the entrance he saw Mac following behind a doctor as another bed was pushed into a similar cubicle a few yards from Dean's. "Mac?" John's worried voice drew the Doctor's attention.
Mac heard his name and looked up to meet John's worried gaze, stepping toward the younger man, he spoke, "Caleb's developed pneumonia, it's onset was rather fast, they've started him on antibiotics and moved him up here to be monitored." Mac ran his hand through his hair as he watched the doctor making notes in his son's chart. "How's Dean doing?" the Scholar looked back at John.
"The same, his temperature hasn't gone up, but it hasn't gone down either." John looked back at his son. "Is this nightmare ever going to end?" The younger man whispered as Mac just looked at him a moment before heading back toward his own son's bed, John turning as he returned to Dean's side.
Oxoxoxoxo
"What?" Mary spoke looking at the teen before her, her small son in her arms. "Do you understand what you're saying?"
Caleb straighten, looking squarely at the woman before him, he hated it when adults didn't think he knew what he was doing. "I know I can't leave him somewhere unprotected, you may be here now, but will that be the case when all is said and done?" Caleb looked at the little boy who was staring at him with those big, green, trusting eye's, then back to Mary. "I don't know if you're here to help him choose, or force him to choose a certain way. You may be his mother in his mind, but are you really? I know what I deciding, I know what it means, but you can't expect a five-year old to understand what will happen to his family if he dies."
A small intake of breath drew Caleb's attention back to Dean who's quivering voice was only intensified by his scared, tear-filled gaze, "I'm going to die?"